Ballet
by Secret-Pass-Time
Summary: Hermione has a hobby she would rather no-one else knew about. Too bad for her that in Hogwarts, nothing stays secret for long.


She adored it, the feeling of satin ribbon binding her legs, of her tutu bouncing as she leapt, spun and danced her way through a routine. She always hated taking those shoes off, those perfect pink satin pointe shoes. They seemed to belong on her feet far more than the clumpy yet practical shoes she wore everyday, a leotard seemed more her than the knee length skirt and jumper she now wore. She almost wept as she untied the neat bun in her hair, releasing a mass of curls and frizz to take over her neck and shoulders.

"I'll see you next summer, Hermione." Her dance teacher murmured. She was an old woman, her voice rattling in her throat, a testament to at least fifty years of smoking.

"Yes miss." The old woman peered at her over a pair of dirty glasses.

"I've something for you. For all your work." A black box tied with green ribbon was thrust into her hands. "Open it when you get to school. It'll cheer you up." Hermione smiled at the woman, not sure of the proper response as well as being taken aback by the gift. An awkward hug later and she was off home to pack.

* * *

Hermione ignored the curious glances Harry and Ron gave the box on her lap as they sat in their compartment.

"Why don't you just open it now?" Ron burst, obviously just wanting to know what could possibly be in the box. Hermione opened her mouth to respond but at that moment, a blonde head poked into the compartment.

"Yeah, Granger, why don't you open it?" Draco asked in a mocking tone.

"Why don't you leave us alone?" She countered.

"I'll make you a deal, open it and I'll leave." Damn, she thought. Surely it would have something to do with ballet. She still hadn't let that secret out. It would open her up for all sorts of jokes.

"Just open it so we can get rid of him." Harry stuck his thumb at Malfoy who simply smirked and turned back to Hermione, her face now slightly pink.

"Fine, but if you two laugh..." She warned before untying the tight knot of green ribbon, letting it slither to the floor in front of her legs. Then, she bit her lips to stop from gasping as she opened the box. There lay a simple black leotard, a pair of fishnet tights, black thigh high legwarmers and on the top, a pair of stunning black pointe shoes. None of the boys had seen the contents yet, so she quickly shoved the lid back on the box and held it tightly against her chest.

"What's the matter, Granger? Something private?" Malfoy snickered, unaware of what she was hiding from him. "I'll find out. Sooner or later." He shrugged, still with that slap-worthy smirk on his face.

The trio watched him leave before Ron turned to her.

"What could be so private you can't show us? After everything we've experienced together, what could be so secret?"

Wordlessly, Hermione stowed the box in her bag and lounged in the seat, crossing her arms across her chest and looking out the window.

"Sorry, 'Mione." Ron muttered. Hermione gave a half smile, letting him know she wasn't angry with him.

"I'll tell the both of you soon. Just as soon as I figure out how." She vowed, her mind slipping to simply flat out showing them what she does, then discarding the thought as foolish.

The rest of the journey there was uneventful at best and boring in truth, the three had slept most of the way, Ron's snoring disturbing Hermione and Harry to a point that they stayed awake and ate the rest of the sweets while Ron slept, unaware of what he was missing.

"Hermione? Don't you trust us?" She paused between bites and sighed.

"You know I trust you both with my life. And I will tell you this. Just...later." Harry nodded, accepting her answer whole heartedly as she opened 'Hogwarts: A History'. She knew there must be a place she could go to dance if need be. Her ballet had suffered after every summer she spent at Hogwarts.

* * *

Hermione lay in bed that night in the complete darkness, the only sounds heard were the snoring and breathing of the other girls as well as a strange sound that Hermione was sure was Neville's toad. Sometimes it made it's way into the girl's dorm, quite possibly because of the smell of perfume or something. Did toads even smell? And would they like something so artificial? She told herself to find out tomorrow. She turned onto her side and closed her eyes. Again. And once again, her mind wandered to the box under her bed.

'If only I had Harry's invisibility cloak...' She thought, a sigh breaking free of her lips. 'I would sneak straight out of here. But...what if I should be caught?' She shook her head and rolled onto her other side and closed her eyes once more, not that it made any difference, it was pitch black anyway.

Her arm slid off the bed and she whined as her fingertips grazed the satin ribbon from the box, laying now untied on the floor.

'Surely,' she thought 'I should try on the shoes. Make sure they fit...' She slid her arm under the bed a little more and dragged the box out. Then, she lifted it onto her bed and struggled, in the dark, to put on one shoe. There was space in them, but with the cushioning she would have to use, they would be perfect. She groaned. The urge to disobey rules and find a place to dance was overcoming her. She hurriedly placed the shoes back in the box, closed it and threw it far under her bed, wrapped herself up in the blankets and squeezed her eyes shut.

'one sheep, two sheep, three sheep, four... oh, to hell with it!' She leapt out of the bed and crouched down, grabbing her wand and pointing it in the general direction of the box.

"Lumos." She whispered, a bright white light erupted from the end of the wand and allowed her to grab the box.

She changed there, putting on the fishnets, the leotard and the legwarmers and a pair of slippers as well as a black housecoat. She put the pointe shoes inside her housecoat, tying it tightly round her so they wouldn't fall. She picked up a hair tie on her way to the door. She stopped there for a moment, wondering if this was really necessary.

'If I don't, then I'll never sleep.' She argued to herself, before she stepped out of the Gryffindor common room and into the cold hallway. She knew of only one place to go, it would be completely perfect, no one ever went there. It was the journey there which bothered her. To get to the large unused room, you had to pass by the slytherin common room. She bit her lip and once again asked herself if she really had to do it, and once again, she answered herself that she did. With silent but firm steps, she made her way to the dungeons of the castle. With slow, cautious movements, she walked past their common room then ran all the way to a small wooden door, clearly it hadn't been touched in months, maybe years. She touched it as little as possible and stepped inside, closing it after her and wincing at the sound it made. She looked around the room which had once been the study of Salazar Slytherin, lit by a little moonlight filtering in as she slipped off the housecoat, holding her pointe shoes.

She sank to the ground and put them on, tying the black ribbons before pulling her legwarmers over them. She tied her hair up into a tight bun before she began her stretching, unaware of the pair of silver eyes watching her from a dark corner.

Slowly, she raised up on pointe, her new shoes significantly less flexible that the old pink ones in her drawer at home. She did an experimental pirouette, grinning as she ended the graceful movement. With that little confidence boost, she launched into a small routine, a tiny part of 'sleeping beauty'. As she spun her way around the room, she ignored the sensation of someone watching her, of that imaginary figure in the corner, the fact it appeared to be moving. She continued her dance, still a little distracted, becoming a little frightened, a little flustered. Then, she was on the floor having fallen. She groaned as she stood and walked towards the corner, a little more becoming visable as she got closer, until...

"Lovely dance, mudblood."

"_Malfoy?!_" She could feel her entire face heat up.

"I told you I'd find out. Though it helped that you were reading all about this room at dinner. One would think that you _wanted_ to be discovered." He smirked. She felt like she was going to vomit.


End file.
